A Room Full of Bones: A Ruth Galloway Investigation

unreal atmosphere. The Highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door. Judy learnt that poem at school. It ends badly, she seems to remember. The door is flung open and Randolph strides in, looking rather highwayman-ish in his jeans and white shirt, soaked to the skin, his black hair wild.
    ‘No sign of them.’
    ‘Len’s car’s still outside,’ says Caroline.
    ‘Which is his car?’ Judy can’t help asking.
    ‘The Ferrari.’
    Bingo.
    ‘I couldn’t see Tammy’s car anywhere. The back gates are padlocked shut.’
    ‘She locked us in,’ says Judy. ‘Tamsin locked us in so that Harris could finish us off. He sent me a text message pretending to be from you asking me to meet him by the old gates. When I got there he pulled a gun on me.’
    Randolph looks at her curiously for a minute. ‘How did you suspect about the drugs?’ he asks.
    Judy tells him about the mules and the condom in the horse manure. Clough laughs out loud at this point but Randolph and Caroline are still looking stricken. Randolph starts to shiver and Caroline gives him a blanket which he wraps round his shoulders.
    ‘But what about the other stuff?’ says Randolph. ‘The snakes and the men in the woods? I didn’t make that up, you know.’
    Caroline makes an odd noise that is halfway between a laugh and a wail. ‘That was me.’
    ‘
What
?’
    ‘I put the snakes over The Necromancer’s door and on the kitchen step. I wanted Dad to give the skulls back. It was outrageous that he should keep them. A crime against humanity. I used snakes because I knew he was scared of them and because of the Great Snake, the Rainbow Serpent. But then he died and I felt so guilty …’ She collapses in tears again.
    ‘Did Cathbad know about this?’ asks Judy sharply.
    ‘Oh yes,’ says Caroline, looking up with swimming eyes. ‘We performed a smoke ceremony in the woods, me and Cathbad and Bob. It was meant to make Dad give the skulls back, not kill him.’
    ‘You were one of the men?’ asks Randolph incredulously.
    ‘Well, I’m quite tall,’ says Caroline with dignity. ‘I expect you just thought I was a man. You were probably drunk or stoned anyway.’
    Randolph doesn’t deny this and Judy remembers Len’s comments about Randolph’s ‘magic powder’. She is absolutely furious with Cathbad. How dare he cavort in the woods with Caroline and not mention it to her when he knew she was conducting an investigation? He’s made a complete fool of her.
    ‘That does it,’ says Randolph suddenly. With a plaid blanket round his shoulders, he should seem ridiculous but instead he looks rather impressive, like an Indian chief. Watched by a bandaged Clough and a still sobbing Caroline, he goes to the writing desk in the corner of the room and starts scribbling. Then he turns and thrusts a piece of paper at Judy:
    I, Randolph, Lord Smith, hereby return the skulls of the ancestors to the Noonuccal people.
    It is dated 10 November 2009, 2.30 a.m.
    Judy is about to speak when flashing blue lights illuminate the room. Back-up has come at last.
    Nelson is floundering in the sea. There are lights and voices but they are too far off now. The waters close over his head – black, stifling waters. He fights and fights for breath but knows that sometime soon even his battling spirit will give up and he will be content to drift, lying back on the outgoing tide. He makes a last titanic effort and, raising his head, sees the boat again, its stone sides lit by some inner radiance. If he can just raise up his hand to the boat. The water is as solid as glass. He can’t break through it. Then, with one last despairing thrust,his hand is above the waves and, miraculously, it is clasped in a strong hold.
    ‘It’s OK, Nelson. I’ve got you.’
    ‘Cathbad. Don’t let go.’
    ‘I won’t.’

CHAPTER 30
     
    Ruth wakes up to Radio 4 telling her about fallen trees and blocked roads and villages without power. It is still dark outside. Six o’clock. In the garden, she can just see the faint outline of the bonfire. Kate is still asleep; though Ruth doesn’t realise it yet, it is the first time since early babyhood that she has slept through the night. But right now Ruth has other priorities. Pulling on a dressing gown, she crosses the landing to the spare room. Cathbad too is asleep, lying on his side with his arm stretched out, touching the floor.
    Ruth shakes him roughly. ‘Cathbad! Cathbad!’
    Cathbad opens his eyes. ‘Hallo Ruth. Is it